Little Things
by sheofgraywings
Summary: "These little things linger in my mind..." Oneshots about the romances of canon HM couples from various games, each chapter under 300 words. Try to guess each couple before you finish the story! Reviews always appreciated; thanks for reading!
1. Envy

Even though she's like a child, he's fascinated by her. She walks the beach often, splashing and playing in the sand with a gleeful joy that he envies, almost. He leans on his elbows and watches her, ignoring the self-conscious part of him commenting on how creepy he must look. But he can't help staring at her, long hair slowing drenched by the water, laughing and smiling in the sun like a child seeing the ocean for the first time.

It's that quality he envies, he supposes. Not her lack of maturity - he'd almost rather shoot himself in the foot than be as naïve as she can be sometimes. But that carelessness she has, that carefree fervor for living… That, he envies. He's always been so in control of his life, always intently aware of his surroundings. He knows exactly what to say because he thinks about his words too much, thinks too long about what will happen when he does this, when that occurs. He can't let go like she can.

And it's that quality she envies in him. Glancing over her shoulder as she plays in the surf, she meets his eyes, meeting the maturity in them. No one treats him like a child, like they treat her. Everyone knows he's intelligent, mature, thoughtful, kind…

Through this mutual envy, they grow to love each other.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Okay, so down here, at the bottom of the page, try to guess which couple the above little snippet is describing! I've actually rewritten this couple; the chapter I used to have for them wasn't really up to my current standards, so I replaced it. It's Kai and Popuri, from Mineral Town! I love these two; they're so adorable together *and* separately!


	2. Sometimes

Sometimes she wondered why she dated him at all. He was a child in many ways, loud and lazy and rude to a fault. He was quick to slip out of blame, and slow to accept responsibility of any kind. He could be inconsiderate and selfish, and sometimes she wanted to grab him by his stupid little vest and shake him until his pea of a brain bounced right out his ear.

But most of the time, she blushed when he grinned at her, admiring his carefree nature. He didn't worry about things like appearances, and he was so honest it made her jealous. He was kinder than her in many ways, and he was so simply trusting of others that she wanted to protect him, though she was younger than him.

Sometimes she wanted to kill him for a thoughtless remark or a careless mistake, but most of the time she wanted to hold him so tightly that she would never have to let go.

Sometimes, when they kiss, he tells her with a wide grin that he feels just the same way.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Can you guess who it is? …. Come on, you'll get a cookie!

That's right, it's Rock and Lumina, from (Another) Wonderful Life and DS (Cute)! Step right up and receive your cookies!


	3. Princes

When she was little, she wished she would be swept away by a prince to live happily ever after. The books she buried herself within told her that her dream might come true, that someday a handsome boy on a white horse would sweep her away to a magical castle, if only she were good enough. Somewhere in the back of her head while she grew up and learned that most fairytales weren't true, she couldn't let go of that unconscious desire. The days, seasons, years passed, and no prince ever came.

But not all princes are charming, or even labeled as princes.

She smiles to herself as she glances from the page of her book to a boy in a baseball cap and a frown. Maybe he's not charming, and maybe he's not wearing a crown, but as he looks over his shoulder and meets her eye, he smiles shyly, and she knows she wouldn't want him any other way.

Who needs a prince, anyway.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

Despite mad fan girls everywhere, I have to say that I love the canon couple of Mary and Gray from (More) Friends of Mineral Town. So cute! *huggles*


	4. Noticing

At first, when he began working for her grandmother and she began pestering him, he found her a little annoying. She wanted to learn how to cook but he was too impatient and sarcastic to teach her, so she settled for stealing any unattended food he left sitting around. At first he wanted to yell at her when she kidnapped a soup meant for a customer, and at first he wanted to smack himself in the head when she responded with childish taunts and even crying once. After he made her cry and Yolanda scolded him he tried harder to be nice, to not smack her hand with a spoon when she reached for the pot. He tried an exercise about which he'd read in a magazine, an exercise where he tried to notice little things about her that were good.

He noticed how kind she was to everyone who walked in the door, how delighted she could get over the smallest things. He noticed that her hair was bright like sunshine and like her laugh. He noticed that, suddenly, he loved her.

He noticed then that she loved him, too.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Aw, Chase and Maya from Tree of Tranquility. Who doesn't love a love story that involves food? *sighs*


	5. Decisions

As a child, she never really thought of herself as the type of girl to fall in love. It was a silly idea, she told herself, to care about someone else more than you care about yourself. Who else is going to look out for you? Who else will ever care about you like yourself? Love was for silly girls who couldn't take care of themselves and needed someone else to do it for them. She wasn't like those girls.

Growing up, she told him about her opinions of love a few times, and he always ended the conversation by saying quietly, "I don't think you're right." He would look at her with wide eyes behind thick glasses, very serious, and how was she supposed to argue with someone so passive? So they would move on and play hide-'n'-seek and in the back of her head she would remind herself that she was right, that love was nothing but an invention of the weak.

When they grew up, when she found that if he were to disappear she would die, she decided she must have been wrong.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

This couple, Karen and Rick from (More) Friends of Mineral Town, is one of my favorites. I can just picture the two of them as childhood sweethearts! *smiles*


	6. Afraid

He is afraid of many things. Mostly he is afraid of being ill; since he was small his mother and sister, both loud women, instilled in him the terror of illness. "You've got a weak immune system," his mother would tell him, "so you have to be careful." He grew up wondering what would kill him; would it be going to get the mail in the rain, or would it be unhealthy eating? He is afraid of many of the same things today, but he takes all precaution against death. He eats healthily, exercises, avoids sick people.

She used to laugh at him for some of his small fears, how Casey would cough and he would jump back as if stunned. She, a young girl, frail and thin and beautiful as glass, seemed to be afraid of nothing, seemed like she would give Death a kiss on the cheek without a thought. He wished for a while that he could be as fearless as her.

Now, though, it has become his biggest fear that she will leave.

When he tells her this, she laughs and tells him that since she never plans to go, this fear is silly.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

Guess guess guess guess guess guess guess guess?

Marlin and Celia, our favorite sick ones from (Another) Wonderful Life and DS (Cute)! This one is for RegretfulMemory, who reviewed before I edited the chapters and added the A.N. so that I didn't have to put the names of the characters in the titles. Thanks, RegretfulMemory, and a million internet cookies to thee!


	7. Happy

She was sulky and quiet and sick. He rarely saw her outside the doctor's office, and when he did she looked perpetually as if she had smelled something unpleasant. Still, despite the down-turned mouth, she was beautiful to him. Maybe because he, too, knew a little bit about looking unhappy; his laughing brother joked that his eyebrows were glued to his eyelids. He wanted to talk to her, maybe even to make her smile.

She thought he was handsome, but he never spoke to her and she wouldn't open a relationship unless called upon. She wasn't one to put herself at risk for any handsome woodcutter, not she who was so ill at heart. She became convinced that he would never speak to her, and when he did one day, frowning down bashfully at a clenched fist full of flower stems, she could hear her every heartbeat and forgot to breathe.

They stared silently at each other in the silent clinic, and when they realized how perfect this was, they both smiled and were happy.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Can you guess this couple? My sister hates them, but that's mostly because she married the man herself… Yes, it's Kurt and Dia from Save the Homeland and, more recently, Magical Melody. I like this couple, personally; who doesn't love a good pair of sulkers? :P


	8. Learning

Of the things he knows about himself, one is that he is shy. When meeting somebody new, he cannot seem to find his tongue; when pushed from his box of familiarity, his words stick and run together into silence. He cannot help feeling terrified at the idea of newness, at the thought of trying something different. He is quiet and eyes the people around him with timid envy.

She is bright, happy and outgoing. She creates her own joy in everything around her, taking rain and molding it to a shower she wanted. He is in awe of this, of her ability to push and nudge the world to be what she wants, or at least to be something with which she can be content. He wishes for her control, for her easy capability.

When she notices the silent stranger in the church, under the pastor's wing, she is intrigued. Who could he be, and why is he so sad? She wants to cup that sorrow in her hands like water, drink it down to relieve him of it and to gain a little solemnity in her silly little life. She comes to think daily about his dark dark eyes and the grief pooled deep in them. She comes to wish for his hand to reach out and brush hers. She learns from his sobering eyes that not all things must be loud and bright, and so she calms a little from day to day, just enough to make her think before she speaks.

He learns from her, too, learns from her that happiness comes from wanting something enough.

When he is brave enough to reach out and take her hand, she and he make the church glow softly with their joy.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This one goes to Saltypepper, who requested this couple and also reviewed. Thank you, Saltypepper! The couple is… Cliff and Ann, from Friends of Mineral Town! I love this couple so much, and felt so guilty in More Friends when I married Cliff and denied Ann her hubby. Still, who can resist a shy, pony-tailed loner? Ah, Cliff… *smiles goofily*


	9. Motion

She is always in motion. Constantly she moves from place to place, constantly her mouth moves with song and words. Listening to the people around her, she thinks of motion and how she cannot seem to stop, even for the things she used to enjoy. So one day, with no consultation to her family or even her agent, she leaves, going to a small island where she thinks for a while she can be still. She takes up fishing again and goes to the beach often.

There she meets a boy who is rarely in motion. He speaks slowly, thinking carefully about each word. She thinks when she first meets him that he must be unhappy to be so quiet, so content without motion. But unbelievably, as they come to know each other better and as he becomes dear to her heart, she realizes that he takes life bit by bit in order to savor each taste, each sound, each moment. She realizes that he is the happiest person she knows.

At least, she believes that he the happiest person she knows until one day he confesses love, and then she decides that the happiest person is her.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This couple, as Neko-lily pointed out, is my first Island of Happiness couple. And the couple is…. Lanna and Denny! I like this couple a lot; both characters are very sweet.


	10. Story

He tells stories to her. Logically she wonders if they are light, offhand lies, but she wants to believe him. She ponders his truth and his lies when she brings him his drink in the bar every night, leaning on the counter across from his lovely dark hair. She flirts as her first setting of social behavior, but unlike with the other customers, she means the oversweet words she gives him.

One night he tells a story that makes her pause, ignoring the calls of the other men in the bar. He tells her a story of a beautiful woman who hides herself in a deep, red sea, the surface of which tosses with deceptively lighthearted waves. He talks of a man who could look down past the lying surface of the water to see the woman crying at the bottom, all alone.

"What did he do?" She can't look away from his eyes.

"He reached out and put his hands around her face." Unconsciously she has leaned forward enough for him to reach out and demonstrate, his hands calloused but gentle. Her pulse pounds.

"And then?" She can't hear her own words.

"And then he kissed her." His lips are so soft that she thinks she imagined their touch on her own.

"And then?" She wonders if she really spoke the thought aloud.

"And then the woman decided the ending." He is smiling but his eyes are so wide and fearful that they might collapse.

She smiles and wraps her palms around his cheeks, her fingers into his hair. "And then she kissed him back."

And she did.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Anyone have any guesses? ….. *imaginary drum roll, or maybe the Jeopardy theme* It's Dan and Eve, from Magical Melody! Both of these characters are a lot of fun. Cookies to all who guessed right! ;)


	11. Dependency

She could describe herself in a word: independent. She prided herself on needing nobody, on knowing that if necessary, she could be by herself and survive just fine. She hated getting sick not so much for the discomfort but for how she had to go into town and buy medicine she couldn't make herself. When she went to the animal store to admire the horses, she chatted in a friendly way but knew that she did not need the interaction.

He always made sure to speak to her, almost like he was worried she would be alone. She thought it was silly of him, but maybe he was a little of a silly person: he was eternally cheerful, unaware of his own bulk and so prone to accidents. She would laugh, not maliciously, when he would slam a door on accident and his face would light with astonished sheepishness. He cared for the animals like they were children who needed him; she admired his careful caretaking, and she admired his smile.

One day she realized that she had been to visit him every day for a month. She sat on the fence, legs kicking slowly, watching him let the animals out to pasture, and wondered why she was still here.

He turned to smile at her, and with a gasp she found she was dependent on him, now.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This is a good couple; I can just picture the guy as a very gentlemanly but goofy boyfriend. It's Bob and Gwen from Save the Homeland and Magical Melody!


	12. Finally

Watching her, he worries that he is being strange. She is so kind that he thinks she might not tell him if he was behaving strangely, so he tries to make sure that his adoration of her is not too plain and odd. Sometimes he thinks his chest will burst open and pour his scalding love over her and she will flinch away from the fire of his feelings. Fear of frightening her away keeps his tongue still, and if his heart beats heavy against his breastbone around her, well, he can live with that as long as she is near.

His older sister knows him too well to miss the way he keeps his face as gentle and carefully controlled around the girl he loves; when the girl he loves comes over as she usually does, his sister meets his eyes and he reads the disaster before it comes.

"Hey —"

"Don't!" he cries, but his sister pushes on anyway, her voice wearing its teasing layers as the girl he loves looks at him curiously.

"Are you guys an item yet?" He thinks he might die.

"No, not to my knowledge," says the girl he loves softly, still looking at him.

"Oh. Well, let me know when my brother finally gets up the nerve to ask you out." His sister smiles broadly, unaware that he thinks he'll perish where he stands.

"Who says he has to ask me out? Why can't I ask out him?" He blinks heavily, heart pounding, as he meets the eyes of the girl he loves. She leans into him and suddenly they are kissing. He can't believe his senses.

His sister laughs and steps out the door to give them privacy. "Finally."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Woo, just got back from a family reunion in Williamsburg, VA. Fun fun fun. Okay, this one is a couple Neko-lily suggested, a couple I find to be very sweet. It's Julia and Elliot from Island of Happiness. Natalie, Elliot's older sister, makes a guest appearance here, too.


	13. Bouncy

She tries to describe him to her parents when she goes back home, and all she can say is, "Bouncy. He's very bouncy."

"Bouncy," her mother repeats tonelessly. Her father frowns, confused and vaguely angry.

"Is that what you kids are calling it —"

"No!" she exclaims, cheeks flushing. She sighs, leaning on the hotel counter. "Bouncy like…like nothing could hurt him for long. Like he could jump off a building and be just fine." She smiles to herself, warming to her topic. "Bouncy like he's the most cheerful person in the world. Bouncy like he has more fun than anyone."

Her mother nods slowly, allowing a slow smile to smooth her worry lines around her mouth. Her beautiful daughter who once said that she would never get married, that she would never settle down with some man, made those worry lines with her cool sarcasm.

"So, do you love him?" asks her father gruffly, straight to the point, and her mother watches the reaction of her daughter closely. She opens her mouth, shuts it, open, shut, like a fish. Her mother's smile grows.

"How does he make you feel?" she hints as her daughter meets her eye and suddenly matches her mother's grin.

"Bouncy."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Sorry about the hiatus, anyone who care; it's been a pretty crazy few weeks. Anyway, this couple is one that, technically, doesn't exist until Animal March comes out. But I just think it's so sad that they would end up alone in T.O.T. without the farmer… Anyway, this couple is Luke and Selena from Tree of Tranquility!


	14. Certainties

He fills his life with certainties. Every morning he will have his tea and then he will see the same patients, prescribe the same remedies, and go upstairs to read the same medical magazines before falling asleep at the same time. He knows what to expect and sometimes it's like he knows the future.

She is one of the certainties. She is always nearby, always ready to help, always smiling softly. Maybe they would have stayed doctor and nurse forever, quiet coworkers, and maybe not, but one day she falls ill, and the fever will not break. He is distraught, barely looking at any of the town's other citizens, permanently by her bedside. His hands shake when filling other prescriptions, and the normally-quiet doctor slips into total muteness. For a while, the town prepares for a funeral, sure that she will die, sure that he will follow.

And then one day she can keep down her soup, and her brow does not burn touching hands. She begins to sit up on her own, and smile; he begins to regain the weight he'd lost, and speaks a word or two to others.

The day that she eats three meals and walks on her own, he knows that she is the most important thing in his life, the most vital. He tells her as much, and she blushes and returns the certainty of his feelings.

The day after that, they are married.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I'm sure this one is easy to anyone who's played Mineral Town… Obviously, it's Doctor Tim and Elli! Don't you hate how in the game, his name is only Doctor? It's just weird, especially when the farmer marries him; you'd think they'd be on a first-name basis by that point. :)


	15. Experience

She's not new at love. When she was younger, still naïve and simple and idealistically kind, she fell in love with every kiss, with every electric touch of a man's hand on her hip. It's years of mutual loneliness that carry her sometimes, years of wondering about what went on behind that other person's skull, years of wondering if that really mattered as long as she was loved for a moment. These days, she considers herself experienced, knowledgeable even, when it comes to love. Her employer laughs at her when they talk about it after hours, about their days and their minds. He isn't new at life, either; the years of heartbreak and loneliness are carved into the lines on the back of his hands. But he speaks so plainly she begins to know him like herself. She can tell his mood from the way he brushes his hand on her shoulder when he needs her attention, and she can tell he is in love with someone when he picks up his guitar. Her experience tells her he loves someone.

But he had to tell her that his someone was her.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Wow, it's been forever since I added anything. I rather forgot about this, to be honest… Anyway, here we are again! This couple's maybe a little difficult, but it's Griffin and Muffy, from Wonderful Life/DS! A Wonderful Life was the first Harvest Moon game I ever played, so even though I prefer every other title in the series now, it still holds a special place in my heart. :)


	16. Silence

He's notorious for being silent. He himself isn't sure why, but when it comes to conversation, he's always on the defense, even when others are only trying to get to know him. He can't make the chitchat that defines this small island, so he walks the beach and dissolves in the crashing silence of the waves.

At first, he dislikes that she walks those shores, too. The mere presence of someone else invades his privacy, even though she doesn't break the silence with chatter. He becomes accustomed to her, kneeling in the sand at a distance and staring out across the ocean without words. Her hair is so long that it trails in the sand, and when she leaves the beach, the bottom of it is dusted with white. She becomes a familiar sight, and he doesn't mind her anymore.

He learns a little of her personality through their mutual silence. She smiles at him and it's as if she's speaking; for the first time in his life, he wants to know what someone else is thinking. Over time, he moves closer and closer to her, closing the distance between them unconsciously.

Finally, he's so close that he has to say something, to explain himself. He clears a rusty, unused throat and introduces himself.

"I just wanted to say hello, I guess," he mutters, watching her for a reaction. She doesn't speak, and he begins to babble. "I mean, I know who you are, but I didn't know if you knew me, and I've been noticing you, I mean, obviously, we've been sharing this beach for a long time, but —"

She stops him with a gentle smile that soothes his fraying nerves. "You don't need to talk. I like enjoying the beach together with you, too."

So they do.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Someone mentioned this couple as not making much sense, so I tried to make my own sense of the pair of them. It's Sabrina and Vaughn, from Island of Happiness/Sunshine Islands! He's such a fan favorite that I worry poor Sabrina ends up alone most of the time…


	17. Ground

Working on a farm, her life was filled with plants. The ripening of a new crop of fall vegetables, the smell of the first flowers of the year, the first green shoots bravely stabbing through the earth… She knew them all by heart. She'd been raised with them and with an appreciation for them. When she was little, she thought of herself as a giant walking, talking flower. She thought that she must have been torn from her roots, though; her life felt floating and groundless, as temporary as summer flowers.

Then she met him. He was at first so plain and honest that she thought he must be lying because no one was really that simple, no one really said all he thought. But over time, over visits, it became clear that he was, in fact, as kind and honest and open as he seemed. He was stable, certain, and she began to think of him as immortal in a way. Not as someone who would live forever, but as someone whose actions could repeat forever without changing, as someone who would always react with kindness to adversity and with patience to problems. He offered her his heart, offered her a place to settle her reaching, starving roots.

She buried her face in his neck and breathed in the joy of finding her ground.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This is another one of those couples I'm not too familiar with; I didn't stick with this game as long as I did some of the others. It's Basil and Nina, from Magical Melody!


	18. Beauty

His love of beauty has set him apart his whole life. It's easy for men to appreciate pretty women or animals, but when it comes to clothes or jewels or sunsets, he feels like the only one. He's something different from the rest of them because he knows how flashy life is, a bright spark that will flare and die. He wants to soak it all in while he's here.

In appreciating beauty, he cannot help but think of her. She's not flashy or sparking, but someone different, something more unique than that. He's known her all his life, but he's never met anyone else who comes close to her. It's like the rest of the world was made of fireflies, flittering around meaninglessly, but she was a star, what they were all imitating and chasing after and longing for. She was something raw and good. Her cheekbones were the frame of his mind, her quiet voice was the meaning of his life. All the other little things faded away in reverence of her shining spirit; she was the only real beauty in the world.

His love of beauty had really only been a love of her all along.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This one was a little hard to write because in the games, I'm not too familiar with the man… It may be a little harder to guess as a result. Well, it's Julius and Candace from Animal Parade/Tree of Tranquility! I tried to give him a little more masculinity, but not so sure how well I succeeded… O.O


	19. Mean

She's mean, and she knows it. It's not something she's doing intentionally, really, and if you asked her, she'd say others are far more cruel than she is. After all, there are people she could mention who smile at her face and stab her back as soon as she turns around; isn't that far more malicious than a thoughtless, sarcastic barb? But the people of this valley seem to prefer a poisoned chocolate to the taste of unsweetened cacao.

Which is only to be expected, but she still doesn't like it. So her meanness grows more pronounced, and the few words she spares are bitter and sharp. Her resolve to keep moving grows in her.

The only one she can really stand around here is him. He's the foil to her every movement, her soul's opposite. When she snaps with impatience over the simplicity of this place, he marvels, exclaiming about beauty and honesty. Where she must fight to find a compliment, he struggles to defend himself. There isn't a snip of meanness in him, she realizes, not even the brutal honesty that she prides herself on, but he's not a liar. Rather, it's as if the concept of ill thinking bounces off the side of his head, or maybe impales itself on his hat.

Whatever. The point is, the point that makes her blush and stammer like she never does, is that he isn't mean like she is. He doesn't lie, and he doesn't make sarcastic comments; it's just not who he can be.

So when he tells her he loves her, the miracle of all miracles, she has no choice but to believe him.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This couple should be relatively easy - why, it's Gustafa and Nami from the DS games and from Wonderful Life!


	20. Bite

She speaks first. "I bite, you know."

"Oh, really? Is that a promise?"

"Cut it out. I'm not flirting. I'm trying to warn you."

"Well, everyone bites. It's how we eat. Speaking of, how do you feel about a nice chocolate soufflé for dessert, with maybe -"

"Oh, shut up. Can't you talk about anything other than food?"

"Erm. Not fantastically… But I'm sorry, you were saying something."

"Right. I bite. Not food, but I mean with words."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not normal, you know? I don't tell people what they want to hear, I'm too critical, and I'm rude. Like those farmers? Every time I see them, I can't help myself from saying something rude about their character, and they're total strangers just doing their jobs."

He laughs.

"What's so funny? I'm trying to be serious here, you know. I'm trying to warn you."

"You said that already."

"Listen to me! You're so nice and funny and you never just say things without caring if they hurt people. You wouldn't like me."

"Oh, honey -"

"Honey?"

"Honey. Do you mind?"

"…I guess not…"

"Okay then. Oh, honey. I like how you talk. I like the way you're honest with everyone you talk to, and I like that when you say something, you mean it. I don't think you're mean. I think you're honest without thinking of the consequences. And I wouldn't change it. So you know what, honey?"

She's whispering now. "What?"

"I like that you bite. It's like citrus - sharp and clear and sweet. Just like you."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I wanted to experiment with trying to tell a story mainly in dialogue - I sometimes struggle with getting across meaning in conversation instead of just info-dumping, and I wanted to try to work on it. Let me know how I did!

This couple's Pierre and Natalie, by the way, from Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands. I haven't played Island of Happiness in forever, and I don't even own Sunshine Islands…


	21. Wonder

He watches her from the corner of his eye and wonders. He's not really a dreamer, frankly, and so this is odd for him. But he wonders about her, and though it is such an indulgence, he can't bring himself to stop. He wonders what the curve of her neck feels like. He imagines it is smooth and soft and tastes faintly of strawberries.

She is content to be wondered at; most of life can go around her and she's content to be a rock in a stream, but his eyes never escape her notice. She's been watching them for so long, trying to learn their language, and their slow, steady movement from polite eye contact to a nearly painful observance of her waist and her mouth does not escape her attention. She wonders what it means, the way his eyes change their focus. She wonders if he thinks of her when he's alone, thinks of how her fingertips must taste, as she thinks of him.

All at once, one of their standard mutual wonderings slips from her tongue like a handkerchief from her pocket. "I wonder if you love me," she half-gasps, afraid to look at him.

And then his fingertips are on her neck, soft, hesitant, warm, curling around the bend between her shoulders and spine. "I wonder," he murmurs, "if anyone has ever loved like I love you."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Good loooooord, it's been forever. O.O Sorry, folks, but as a college freshman, my free time has been rather…limited. But I'm home for Christmas break and dusting off this old project for the duration! As always, reviews and comments are deeply, wholeheartedly appreciated. Can you guess this pair of sweethearts? Why, it's Jin and Anissa from Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade. I just love these two; they're both so sweet!


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